The Child Abduction Act 1984 (c 37) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It creates offences that replace, in England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

, the offence of child stealing under section 56 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861

Offences Against The Person Act 1861

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...

.

Section 1 - Offence of abduction of child by parent etc

Section 1(1) provides that, subject to sections 1(5) to (8), it is an offence for a person connected with a child under the age of sixteen to take or send the child out of the United Kingdom without the appropriate consent.

The following cases are relevant to this section:

• R v C [1991] 2 FLR 252, [1991] Fam Law 522, CA
• R v Sherry and El Yamani [1993] Crim LR 536, CA

Sentence

See section 4(1).

See the Crown Prosecution Service sentencing manual.

And see R v Brennan [2007] 2 Cr App R (S) 50

Section 2 - Offence of abduction of child by other persons

Section 2(1) provides that, subject to section 2(3), it is an offence for a person, other than one mentioned in section 2(2), to take or detain a child under the age of sixteen so as to remove him from the lawful control of any person having lawful control of him, or, so as to keep him out of the lawful control of any person entitled to lawful control of him.

This section is disapplied by section 51 of the Children Act 1989

Children Act 1989

The Children Act 1989 is a British Act of Parliament that altered the law in regard to children. In particular, it introduced the notion of parental responsibility. Later laws amended certain parts of the Children Act...

.

The following cases are relevant:

• R v Leather, 98 Cr App R 179, CA
• R v Berry [1996] Crim LR 574, The Times, 29 January 1996, CA

Sentence

See section 4(1).

See the Crown Prosecution Service sentencing manual.

And see the following cases:

• R v Dean [2000] 2 Cr App R (S) 253
• R v Mawdsley [2001] 1 Cr App R (S) 101
• R v Delaney [2003] 2 Cr App R (S) 81
• R v J A and others [2002] 1 Cr App R (S) 108
• R v Prime [2005] 1 Cr App R (S) 45
• R v Delaney [2007] 1 Cr App R (S) 93
• R v Serrant [2007] 2 Cr App R (S) 80
• R v M [2008] 2 Cr App R (S) 73

Section 5 - Restriction on prosecutions for offence of kidnapping

See Kidnapping#England and Wales

Section 13 - Short title, commencement and extent

Section 13(2) provides that the Act came into force at the end of the period of three months that began on the day on which it was passed. The word "months" means calendar months. The day (that is to say, 12 July 1984) on which the Act was passed (that is to say, received royal assent) is included in the period of three months. This means that the Act came into force on 12 October 1984.

External links

• The Child Abduction Act 1984, as amended from the National Archives.
• The Child Abduction Act 1984, as originally enacted from the National Archives.
• Crown Prosecution Service guidance - prosecuting cases of child abuse